Groupon’s top European exec exits

Former Dell executive Veit Dengler joined the daily deal operator in April.

Groupon Inc. is reshuffling its European executives in an effort to bolster its struggling European business.

Chris Muhr, previously the daily deal operator’s senior vice president of sales, is now heading up the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division. Veit Dengler, who joined Groupon in April as senior vice president, international, will leave the company. Dengler oversaw Groupon’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. Groupon declined to give a reason for Dengler’s departure.

Groupon also named Rob Kilgarriff vice president, North American sales and account management. Kilgariff, who will report to Kal Raman, senior vice president, global sales and operations, will lead the daily operations for Groupon's sales team. Kilgarriff previously worked as senior vice president, sales, at education software vendor GlobalScholar, under Raman for three years. He has also worked at GE Plastics and GE Capital.

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The moves come on the heels Raman’s promotion from senior vice president, Americas, to senior vice president, global sales and operations, in August, a Groupon spokesman says. That gave Raman oversight over Dengler.

“Groupon is making changes in its management structure that aim to flatten its global organization,” the spokesman says. “These changes will make Groupon faster and more efficient, enabling the company to deliver more to local merchants and consumers across the globe.”

Groupon’s international revenue fell 3.9% from the first to second quarter, and analysts have said the daily deal operator must fix its European business.

Groupon also has been offering deals that fail to suit the European market at this time, said CEO Andrew Mason during an earnings call with analysts. “While deals such as laser hair removal and luxury hotel stays in Monaco give Groupon an element of serendipitous discovery that is key to our brand, we have also found that these more discretionary offers are more susceptible to negative demand elasticity over the past few quarters as macroeconomic conditions have deteriorated,” he said.